The Different Tiers Of Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan Program

Elite status with an airline program is how you gain benefits and preferential treatment when flying. With Mileage Plan, elite status is earned solely from frequent flying, and benefits apply across all oneworld partner airlines. Upgrades are a big part of the program, but alliance membership has brought much more.

Mileage Plan elite status levels

There are four levels within Mileage Plan, earned with increasing flying (measured using “elite qualifying miles”). The top level of MVP Gold 100K was just added in 2022 and is designed to reward the most frequent flyers, mainly with a higher chance of upgrades.

These levels are:

• MVP: Earned after 20,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold: Earned after 40,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold 75K: Earned after 75,000 elite qualifying miles.
• MVP Gold 100K: Earned after 100,000 elite qualifying miles.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace / Simple Flying

Now that Alaska Airlines is part of the oneworld alliance, these elite levels provide a corresponding status within the association. MVP gives oneworld Ruby; MVP Gold gives oneworld Sapphire; MVP 75K and MVP 100K give oneworld Emerald status.

Benefits with Alaska Airlines

Each of the four elite levels brings increasing benefits when flying with Alaska Airlines. MVP benefits include:

• Free upgrades to premium class at the time of booking (only for tickets in higher booking classes Y, B, or H).
• Free upgrades to first class at the time of booking (for booking classes Y and B).
• Free upgrades to premium or first class for other tickets processed 48 hours before departure (except saver fares, only at two hours before departure).
• Mileage bonus of 50% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• Priority check-in and boarding.
• Two free checked bags.
• Free preferred seat selection.
• Discount on Alaska annual lounge membership of $100.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

MVP Gold adds benefits including:

• Free upgrades to premium class at the time of booking (for tickets in booking classes Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, or N).
• Free upgrades to first class at the time of booking (for booking classes Y, B, H, or K).
• Free upgrades to premium or first class for other tickets processed 72 hours before departure (except saver fares, only at two hours before departure).
• Four one-way guest upgrade certificates (valid for passengers not traveling with you, for tickets in booking classes Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, or N).
• Complimentary same-day flight change.
• Mileage bonus of 100% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• A complimentary beverage in the main cabin.

MVP Gold 75K adds:

• A bonus of 50,000 miles upon qualification.
• Free upgrades to premium class at the time of booking (for tickets in all booking classes except X).
• Free upgrades to first class at the time of booking (for booking classes Y, B, H, K, or M).
• Free upgrades to premium or first class for other tickets processed 72 hours before departure (except saver fares, only at two hours before departure).
• One international upgrade certificate each year for an American Airlines flights (one-way, one cabin upgrade for any published fare class).
• Mileage bonus of 125% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• Three free checked bags on all flights.
• Four Alaska lounge passes.
• Gift Mileage Plan MVP status to one person.

Photo: Santi Rodriguez I Shutterstock.

MVP Gold 100K adds:

• Highest priority on free upgrades to premium and first class.
• Two international upgrade certificates each year for American Airlines.
• Mileage bonus of 150% on Alaska Airlines and most partner airlines.
• A complimentary meal or snack in the main cabin.
• An additional benefit of a 100K Choice. You can choose between 50,000 bonus miles, lounge membership, the ability to gift MVP Gold status, complimentary onboard WiFi, or a complimentary CLEAR Plus membership.

Benefits with oneworld and other partners

Now that Alaska Airlines has joined the oneworld alliance, elite status offers benefits with all alliance member airlines. This includes American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

This status brings benefits, including:

• Lounge access when flying any oneworld airline. Sapphire status gives business class lounge access, and Emerald status gives first class lounge access.
• Use of business class or first class check-in.
• Additional luggage allowance.
• Priority luggage handling.
• Free seat reservation. This varies by airline and may include exit row seating for Emerald members.

How to earn status

Elite status with Mileage Plan is awarded purely based on the level of flying within each calendar year. Many other US programs (including those of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines) now include a revenue requirement along with (or instead of) a travel requirement. With these programs, you cannot earn elite status unless you meet a minimum amount of spending with the airline (or possibly on associated credit cards). This is not the case with Mileage Plan.

Status is earned based on elite qualifying miles. These are the same as the base miles earned from flying with Alaska Airlines, all oneworld airlines, and other Mileage Plan partner airlines. This incorporates a class of service bonus but not any elite status bonus. These rates are all published in tables on the Mileage Plan website. An example for British Airways is shown below.

Image: Alaska Airlines

Alternatively, you can qualify based on the total number of qualifying flight segments flown. These segments can be on Alaska Airlines or any partner airline (basically, any flight that qualifies to earn base miles will be a qualifying segment). In addition, a minimum number of segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines flights to qualify for status. This is an essential criterion to be aware of and prevents anyone who doesn’t fly Alaska Airlines from earning status (they can still earn and redeem miles, however).

Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock

The full elite status requirements are:

• MVP: Earned after 20,000 elite qualifying miles OR 30 eligible segments. In addition, two eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold: Earned after 40,000 elite qualifying miles OR 60 eligible segments. In addition, six eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold 75K: Earned after 75,000 elite qualifying miles OR 90 eligible segments. In addition, 12 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.
• MVP Gold 100K: Earned after 100,000 elite qualifying miles OR 140 eligible segments. In addition, 24 eligible segments must be flown on Alaska Airlines.

Do you have elite status with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, or are you working towards it? What are the main benefits you see in the program? Feel free to discuss this and compare it with other airline programs in the comments.